Section 21 in The Orissa District Planning Committees Rules, 2000
21. Counting of votes.
(1)On the previously appointed day and in the presence of candidates and or the election agents duly informed, the Returning Officer shall take up counting of votes.(2)The Returning Officer shall open the ballot boxes, take out from each box and count, the ballot papers contained therein and record their number in a statement.(3)The Returning Officer shall then separate the ballot papers which he deems valid from those which he rejects endorsing on each rejected ballot paper the word "Rejected" and the ground of rejection.(4)A ballot paper shall be rejected if -(a)it bears any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified, or(b)it is a spurious ballot paper, or(c)it is so damaged or mutilated that its identity as a genuine ballot paper cannot be established, or(d)the figure 1 is not marked on it, or(e)the figure 1 is set opposite the name of more than one candidate or is so placed as to render it doubtful as to which candidate it is intended to apply, or(f)the figure 1 and some other figures are set opposite the name of the same candidate.(5)After rejecting the ballot papers which are invalid, the Returning Officer shall proceed and complete the counting in accordance with the provisions laid down in rules 71 to 83 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, made under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951).
